Commanders dunked in CFC kickoff event

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Amber Carter
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Combined Federal Campaign Fundraiser kick-off was held Oct. 3 at Travis Air Force Base. To celebrate the kick-off, a field day challenge and charity fair were held at the Travis soccer field.

The main event involved an obstacle course where teams of five Airmen per squadron competed. The timed competition involved push-ups, sit-ups, football throw, balloon race, low crawl, baseball bat spin and a dizzy sprint to the finish line.

The 60th Operations Group took home the trophy with a winning time of 1 minute and 42 seconds.

"As with any competition, in order to win you have to have a strategy," said Airman 1st Class Peter Gentles, 60th OG aircrew flight equipment. "We watched the teams before us, observed what they did, good or bad, and capitalized on their downfall."

Another popular event was the "dunk the commander" station where commanders from each group and wing took turns being dunked by participants throwing a baseball at a target.

"The dunk tank made $324 in donations," said Capt. Veronica Perry, 60th Inpatient Squadron nurse and event coordinator. "The entire event raised $2,085."

As an added incentive, Col. Corey Martin, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander, proposed to donate to a charity and coin anyone who dunked him on their first throw. No sooner than the announcement was made, Senior Airman Matthew Midkiff, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron pavement and heavy equipment operator, hit the target and sent Martin swimming.

"I do believe the dunk tank was a success because we could get away with dunking the 'higher ups' and it was a challenge," Midkiff said. "My strategy was to try and throw a perfect pitch straight down the pipe to hit the dunking mechanism."

Hosting approximately 300 people, more than 30 CFC volunteers helped with set-up, tear-down and running the event.

"The CFC team worked well together," Perry said. "Everyone knew their job and role and flawlessly executed it. The planning and organization was a team effort. It was a lot of work and attention to detail, but it was worth it."

Federal employees continue to make the CFC the largest and most successful workplace philanthropic fundraiser in the world. In 2013, federal employees raised over $209 million for charitable causes around the world, according to the CFC official website.

"We are very proud of our event and happy with the turn out," Perry said. "In our opinion, it couldn't have been any better."

The CFC Fundraiser is held from Oct. 3 until Nov. 14.